


Just Say It

by americanithink



Category: The War at Home
Genre: Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 06:45:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18330734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americanithink/pseuds/americanithink
Summary: Kenny and Larry play a game and some truth comes out.(This is based after Kenny comes out and lives with Larry's family.)





	Just Say It

Kenny’s hands begun to cramp because of his prolong grip on the controller. Larry hadn’t let them take a break for the last fifty minutes, which Kenny wasn’t too thrilled about. Kenny didn’t take video games as seriously as Larry, mostly because he wasn’t really the best at them. He often had a hard time keeping control over the avatar and making it go where he wants. Kenny secretly thought Larry gave him a botched controller because he seemed to have a much easier time.

“Yes!” Larry jumped to his feet. This was his twenty-fourth consecutive win, and he wasn’t exactly humble about it. The only reason the streak wasn’t longer was that Mike had poked his head in to mock and distract Larry twenty-four games ago.

Kenny leaned back and allowed a tired sigh escape his lips, “Wow. It’s just Mario Kart, Larry. Can’t you go a little easier on me?”

Larry glanced back at Kenny with an almost surprised look, as if he forgot Kenny was there. Kenny hated that expression. 

“Sorry about that,” Larry spoke with an embarrassed grin. He sat back by Kenny but before he could press “New Game” Kenny waved a dismissive hand. 

“What is it?” Larry sounded genuinely confused—as if Kenny hadn’t obviously been bored since the first half hour of playing.

“Do you have any other games? Something I actually have a chance at?” 

“Oh, uh, sure! Do you wanna play Smash Bros or Mario Golf or-”

“How about a board game?”

“A board game?”

“Why not,” Kenny shrugged.

“Since when have you liked board games?” Larry teased. Though he laughed like he didn’t take Kenny seriously, he walked to his closet to see the options. 

“We play chess all the time,” Kenny replied sluggishly. 

“Let’s see,” Larry muttered then spoke loud enough for Kenny to hear, “Monopoly?”

“I want to finish the game before dinner.”

“Chess?”

“I want something different.”

“Sorry?”

“Can you get a game that involves thinking?”

“Oh, I got it!” Larry called before emerging back to Kenny’s view. Larry was holding a white box with big letters reading “LIFE.” 

Kenny smiled and Larry knew he made the right choice. Plus, Kenny excitedly stated, “Perfect!” 

The two sat on the floor where Larry began to set the board up. When asked which car color he wanted, Kenny said green; Larry took blue. To decide who goes first, they did the classical rule of spinning the wheel and whoever got the larger number began the game. Kenny felt childish pride when he spun an eight compared to Larry’s three. 

Though starting the game off with $40,000 debt wasn’t ideal, Kenny figured going to hypothetical college with hypothetical debt would help him get a hypothetical job later in the game. Meanwhile, Larry decided to go with just starting a career—mainly to see how his and Kenny’s fake lives would play out differently. 

Larry pulled a career card and announced, “Well, I’m a cop now.”

“Hm,” Kenny replied without much thought. His fingers were already on the wheel and ready to spin. The game continued: Kenny in college and Larry working as a cop. The only time Kenny encouraged conversation was when he had to pay Larry $5,000 for speeding. 

“Is that what you want to do when you’re older?”

“Get paid five-thousand dollar every time someone speeds? That’d be nice,” Larry laughed.

Kenny smiled, “No, do you want to be a cop?”

Larry’s smile faltered, “I don’t know. I kinda just wanna get past high school first.”

“You never thought about what you want to do with your life?” Kenny asked while watching Larry spin the wheel again. 

“I don’t really like to talk about it.” Kenny could tell Larry was starting to get irritated with all the questions. Kenny wished he cared, but he didn’t. So he asked, “Why not, Larry?” 

Larry’s shoulders and face relaxed as if hearing his own name come from Kenny’s lips was a calming tranquilizer.

“There are things in my life right now that I want to get through first,” Larry admitted, “Once I figure out my current self, then I’ll worry about my future self.” 

It only takes Kenny one more spin for him to graduate college. 

“Moment of truth,” Larry pushed the career cars toward Kenny, “What does hypothetical Kenny plan to do with the rest of his life?”

“You seem more excited about this than I am,” Kenny teased while pulling the top card off the deck.

Larry watched as Kenny’s expression turn from neutral to unamused. 

“What is it? What did you get?”

“Entertainer,” Kenny flipped the card around to show the picture of cartoons singing, “I went to college and got stuck in forty-thousand dollar debt to become an entertainer.” 

“Hey,” Larry grinned, “Maybe you’re good and the debt will be easy to pay off?” 

_ Duh, I’ll be a good performer. I was made for it.  _ Kenny replied, “Yeah, maybe.”

Larry’s next spin landed him on the “Get Married” square. 

“Cool,” Larry lazily smiled, “Can you hand me one of the other figures?”

Kenny nodded while grabbing a small pink figure. When Kenny held it out for Larry, he stared at it for a second before lamely grabbing it. 

“What was that about?” Kenny furrowed his brows. 

Larry looked down at the pink piece between his index finger and thumb. 

“If you,” Larry began but stopped. His voice seemed distant, “If you got on the Get Married square, would you have grabbed the pink or blue piece?”

Kenny folded his arms, “Well because I like guys, I’d pick the blue piece.”

“Even if someone who didn’t know you were gay was here? Like if I didn’t know you were gay, would you still pick the blue piece? Or try to stay in the social norm and pick pink?” 

“You’re asking two different questions,” Kenny pointed out, “If I was playing with a complete stranger, I’d pick the blue because why should I care if they judge me. Also, you know how long it took me to come out to you. So if you didn’t know, I would pick pink.” 

Kenny didn’t think much about Larry’s odd and specific questions. After Kenny came out, Larry said he was fine with it and usually acted normal. But then it was random moments like this where Larry just started asking all types of questions. At first, Kenny was insulted.  _ Why is he asking me like I’m some type of lab rat? I’m the same person as I was yesterday, he just knows more than before.  _ But soon Kenny realized these questions weren’t out of judgment or any negative emotions; the questions came from pure curiosity with no ill intent. 

“Who do you see yourself marrying, Kenny?” 

This question threw him off. What he wanted to answer was “You. I’ve always pictured us getting married and living happily together.” But instead, Kenny replied vaguely, “A guy.” 

It took Larry a few seconds to ask his next question, “Anyone in particular?”

_ You. _ “Seems like a kinda personal question, wouldn’t you think?”

“You know,” Larry lifted his head and forced a laugh. He spoke quicker than usual, “I used to always think about us moving in together when we got older. I thought it would be fun to live with my best friend.”

Kenny’s eyes widened and he could feel a blush spread across his cheeks, “But not anymore, right? That kinda ended up happening already, and living with me probably wasn’t all you imagined.”

“You living here isn’t the same as us living together in our own place,” Larry pointed out, “I wouldn’t mind us living together after high school and college.”

Kenny was quiet.

“Kinda like being married,” Larry said with a shy smile.

This one phrase sent annoyance through Kenny, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What?” soft delight turned into awkward uncertainty. 

“Did you find my old journal or something?”

“Kenny, what are you-” Larry was cut off.

“Did you go through my stuff when you were helping me unpack or something?!” Kenny accused, “You found my journal and read it all, huh?!”

“Kenny, you’re acting crazy! I didn’t go through your stuff!”

“Then how did you know!”

“Know what!?”   
“That I want to spend the rest of my life with you! You’re doing that straight guy thing where you tease the gay kid because you know he has a crush on you! Don’t lie, Larry, I know that’s what you’re doing!”

Larry went quiet, his face was faintly pink and his lips were pressed tightly together. Kenny stared at him, his heavy breathing kept the room from complete silence. 

Kenny was so enraged with what he believed Larry’s intentions where that he didn’t even process how he just admitted his most well-kept secret. Once the realization hit him, shame was all Kenny felt. He brought his knees up and pressed his forehead against them, trying to hide the tears that pooled in the edges of his eyes. 

“You like me?” Larry stuttered, “In more than a friend kind of way?”

“Stop playing dumb,” Kenny muttered without lifting his head. 

“Kenny,” Larry tried to find the right words to say, “I swear, I never went through your stuff. I didn’t even know you had a journal.” Kenny’s silence stood as the green for Larry to continue. “And I swear I didn’t know that’s how you felt. Trust me, if I knew things would be way different.”

“What does that mean?” Kenny lifted his head only enough so his eyes were poking from behind his knees.

Larry slid the board game away so it no longer blocked the space between the two of them. He then moved closer to Kenny so there were only a few inches between them.

“Can I kiss you?”

Kenny dropped his legs down and gave Larry an uncertain look, “If you do, what would that make us? I don’t wanna be your experimental gay makeout that doesn’t mean much to you but means the world to me.”

“I’d like it to mean we are more than just friends.” Kenny opened his mouth but Larry quickly added, “More than just friends with benefits too.”

“What will your dad think?”

“Why should I care?”

This made Kenny smile, which in turn made Larry smile.

“What are you waiting for?” Kenny teased, “Kiss me before I change my mind.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :)


End file.
